


the best story that i could ever tell

by paopuleaf



Series: voicemails to/from ascension [1]
Category: Blaseball (Video Game)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Drabble, During S10 - Pre-Ascension, Other, discussions of death and what you want to happen after your own, ladders - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:28:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28901160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paopuleaf/pseuds/paopuleaf
Summary: it’s day one-hundred-and-twelve, season ten, and luis is sitting across from tot on hir couch in seattle.“so what if you get sweeped,” tot says, and luis rolls xer eyes, idly shifting until xe props xer feet up on the backboard and hangs xer head off the cushion.“we won’t get sweeped again. shoe thieves aren’t that good, y’know.” xe makes a mini-hologram of richardson games in xer palm and then crushes it, all theatrics. tot snorts. “don’t laugh. crabs good, haven’t you heard?”-(luis and tot talk, a day before the finals round.)
Relationships: Luis Acevedo/Tot Clark
Series: voicemails to/from ascension [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2057883
Kudos: 10





	the best story that i could ever tell

**Author's Note:**

> luis uses they/them + xe/xer/xem, and tot uses he/him + ze/hir ! 
> 
> this is a prequel to the other voicemails fic :] title comes from "anything for you" by ludo!

it’s day one-hundred-and-twelve, season ten, and luis is sitting across from tot on hir couch in seattle.

“so what if you get sweeped,” tot says, and luis rolls xer eyes, idly shifting until xe props xer feet up on the backboard and hangs xer head off the cushion. 

“we won’t get sweeped again. shoe thieves aren’t that good, y’know.” xe makes a mini-hologram of richardson games in xer palm and then crushes it, all theatrics. tot snorts. “don’t laugh. crabs good, haven’t you heard?”

“you’ve only been telling me all season,” ze replies, “so you could say i’ve heard. if you play your cards right, tomorrow will be the last game. do you want me to come?”

luis pauses, face dropping to neutral; tot watches xer expression carefully, setting one hand down on the couch palm-up for xem to grab. “i don’t know,” xe says, setting xer hand on top. “you saw the nut, last time. it’ll show up again.”

tot  _ had  _ seen the peanut last time, from the stands. hir ears ring with the phantom static, the  _ loud,  _ the way it pressed down on everyone in the stands and defeated the shoe thieves in one sweep. ze would love to say ze could handle it, has handled worse, but ze’s not sure, and luis can tell. “like i said, tot, i don’t know.” xe gives hir a flicker of a grin. “if you want to see the crabs kick its ass, though…”

“would you mind if i stayed home?”

“not at all! you could probably invite somebody over though, jay- no, wait. teddy, or something.” 

“hm.” tot runs hir thumb over the back of luis’ hand, going down the list of garages in hir head. “i’ll send something in the group chat, see if anyone’s free.”

luis nods, and uses tot’s grip to pull xemself up, readjusting to a proper seat before xe leans towards tot. ze doesn’t protest, so xe settles comfortably, hologram-static buzzing lightly against hir bandages. “what do you think ascension is?”

“go up or climb.”

“to where?”

tot shrugs. “heaven? another plane? maybe you’ll just keep playing as normal, and you just fly, now.”

“i’ll be able to play the crabs whole defense for real, then.”

“thought you said you were able to take a break, since the crabs actually have strategy.”

“hmm… a lot of blood got taken,” luis explains, eyebrows furrowed. “without proper safety, so- the crabs are kind of down on their luck, right now. i’m trying to cover for all the gaps! so kennedy doesn’t have to worry about  _ that,  _ too.” a pause. “it’s also just fun.”

tot’s shoulders shake in quiet laughter, and luis nudges hir. “wish i could play batter sometime, if only to see your side of things,” ze tells xem, voice light, “because defense always looked like a chore while you were on the garages.”

“we should do a mock game, after this.”

“you think enough players would want to?”

“maybe. the crabs would, maybe, and some of the garages? bet we could get a couple of the firefighters, if they’re not on shift.”  _ chiclawgo,  _ tot thinks, and nods. luis continues, “the jazz hands probably wouldn’t mind, or the dale, but i refuse to play in florida.”

they’re both banned from most of the theme parks around florida, so maybe that’s for the best. “they could come to us,” tot suggests.

“they’d have to if they wanted to play.”

“maybe they would bring the lizards with them.”

“maybe,” luis echoes. the living room falls silent, besides the persistent buzz of electronics and luis’ projector, and tot makes no move to fill it. xe’s the one to speak up again, after a few minutes, eyes fixed looking up. “if ascension means death.”

tot hums. it’s a conversation they’ve had before, when tot was unstable, when the incinerations first started. when they could’ve been killed, the constant risk for the past few years. “yeah?”

“you should throw a party.”

“to celebrate?”

“no, like- a wake, y’know? i don’t want anyone to mourn for too long. don’t let the garages sing a sad song about me dying, or whatever! i want to be remembered, but- for all the cool shit we did.” luis turns over, looks up at tot as xe sinks further into hir side. “yeah?”

“yeah. ‘course.”

“and if i don’t die, well- you’ll see us again, doing cool shit, right?”

tot looks away. “mm. all of the crabs are just going to get ladders to bat with. you’ll have to climb them to play-”

“no, that’s- absolutely not, i’d rather let one of those knockoff vampires siphon me, that’s awful.”

“like a ladder. go up or climb, luis.”

“come down and sock you in the jaw,  _ tot. _ ”

“would you bandage it afterwards?”

luis laughs, squeezing xer eyes shut. “the bruise?”

“the bruise,” tot affirms, barely keeping hir voice from wavering. 

xe shakes xer head. sighs, lighthearted. “i would, obviously. bandaged you every day before, wouldn’t stop because i punched you.”

“hm. we’ll just have to see, then.”

“we’ll just have to see. i’ll call you after the deciding game tomorrow, ‘kay?”

a moment, before tot nods. “i’ll pick up.”

a grin. tot feels luis brighten as much as ze sees it, fuzzy static getting louder. “you always do!”

**Author's Note:**

> i care them  
> you can find me @catboydeicide on tumblr, @ghostcatboys on twitter, or in the crabitat, probably talking about luistot or the crabs shadows


End file.
